Helping Low-Income Families Manage Childhood Asthma: Solutions for Healthcare & Beyond

Asthma is the most common childhood chronic illness, affecting more than seven million children nationwide. Managing chronic illness in a child is challenging for any family. Among the challenges is constant fear of an acute episode, a complex regimen of medications given daily or many times each day, frequent changes in prescriptions or dosages, coordinating multiple healthcare providers, and helping a child have as "normal" and active a childhood as his/her condition allows. Low-income children of color bear a heavier asthma burden than their white or more affluent peers. Those low-income children who live in urban areas such as Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York are particularly vulnerable. Families with limited resources struggle to provide their children with asthma the support that these children need

Ruling group dominance and regime justification in multi-ethnic states

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.The current but inconsistent upheaval in the Middle East suggests variations in what will topple regimes, and thus in how regimes have laid the groundwork to remain in power. This thesis examines variation in a social condition, relative dominance of a ruling ethnic group in a multi-ethnic society, as the source for systematic variations in how a mono-ethnic regime will justify its rule to the general population. This thesis argues that the ruling group's relative dominance, defined as its relative percentage to other groups in the population, drives a regime's justifying argument to be either rooted in the presence of universally lauded institutions (democratic-institutional), the regime's demonstrated record of economic and social developmental achievements (economic-social developmental), or the regime's ability to further the interests of an identity common to itself and the population at large (identificational). Relative dominance, it is contended, affects regime behavior by influencing the functioning of two mechanisms: the degree to which a regime can tolerate public accountability and the extent to which it needs to reduce the salience of ethnicity in order to endure. The thesis hypothesizes that the former decreases and the latter increases as dominance decreases. The thesis incorporates quantitative and qualitative analyses to measure and evaluate relationships between relative dominance and justifying arguments. It demonstrates the existence of relationships between dominance and regimes' justifying arguments by means of content analysis of senior leaders' speeches in eight Sunni-dominant, Shi'ite-subordinate countries--Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq (under Saddam Hussein), Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Case studies of one high-dominance country (the UAE), one medium-dominance (Yemen), one low-dominance (Iraq), and one outlier (Bahrain) then illustrate the speculated mechanisms in action.by Deborah Rachel Berman.S.M

Familial 4;18 chromosome translocation resulting in trisomy 4p and monosomy 18p: affected individuals with discordant phenotype

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62156/1/2225_ftp.pd

Selfish Or Selfless? on the Signal Value of Emotion in Altruistic Behavior

We examine when consumers gain credit for good deeds. Contrary to theories that decry emotions as selfish, people view emotions as authentic, and therefore deserving of charitable credit. Further, feeling good as a result of giving is viewed positively, unless someone explicitly claims to have been motivated by emotional benefits. [to cite]

Role of ultrasonography in the management of twin gestation

Twins represent 1%–2% of all pregnancies, yet continue to account for a disproportionate share of neonatal adverse events including neonatal intensive care admission, morbidity, and mortality. Ultrasonography is central to the proper diagnosis of the type of twinning. Ideally, ultrasonography is performed before 14 weeks of gestation to determine chorionicity and amnionicity. Correct identification of the chorionicity in a twin pregnancy facilitates proper counseling and management of the gestation, including ultrasonography follow‐up. Herein, the different types of twinning are reviewed, together with the implications for ultrasonography monitoring of each specific type of twin gestation.A review of the complete diagnosis of the types of twinning and subsequent ultrasonography management of the twin gestation.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143777/1/ijgo12483.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143777/2/ijgo12483_am.pd

Effects of Early Postnatal Exposure to Ethanol on Retinal Ganglion Cell Morphology and Numbers of Neurons in the Dorsolateral Geniculate in Mice

Background: The adverse effects of fetal and early postnatal ethanol intoxication on peripheral organs and the central nervous system are well documented. Ocular defects have also been reported in about 90% of children with fetal alcohol syndrome, including microphthalmia, loss of neurons in the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer, optic nerve hypoplasia, and dysmyelination. However, little is known about perinatal ethanol effects on retinal cell morphology. Examination of the potential toxic effects of alcohol on the neuron architecture is important because the changes in dendritic geometry and synapse distribution directly affect the organization and functions of neural circuits. Thus, in the present study, estimations of the numbers of neurons in the ganglion cell layer and dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), and a detailed analysis of RGC morphology were carried out in transgenic mice exposed to ethanol during the early postnatal period

Mandatory Drug Testing of Dental Students: To Test or Not to Test

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153560/1/jddjde019086.pd

Effect of prenatal EPA and DHA on maternal and umbilical cord blood cytokines

Abstract Background Investigators have hypothesized that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may modulate the immune response. However, available evidence is conflicting. We performed this study to investigate the effect of prenatal eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)- and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich fish oil supplementation on maternal and fetal cytokine production. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial designed to assess whether prenatal EPA- or DHA-rich fish oil supplementation would prevent perinatal depressive symptoms among women at risk. Enrolled participants received EPA-rich fish oil (1060 mg EPA plus 274 mg DHA), DHA-rich fish oil (900 mg DHA plus 180 mg EPA) or soy oil placebo. Maternal venous blood was collected at enrollment (12–20 weeks gestation) and after supplementation (34–36 weeks gestation). Umbilical cord blood was collected at delivery. We analyzed stored plasma specimens for 16 human cytokines using multiplex immunoassays. Maternal and cord blood cytokine levels were compared among the treatment groups. Associations of serum DHA and EPA with maternal and cord blood cytokines were explored via regression analysis. Results We enrolled 126 women, of whom 118 completed the trial. Prenatal supplementation with EPA-rich fish oil significantly lowered maternal IL6, IL15, and TNFα concentrations. However, supplementation with DHA-rich fish oil had no significant effect on maternal cytokine profiles. Maternal serum DHA fraction was significantly associated with IL1α, and maternal serum DHA and EPA fractions were significantly associated with IL 10 concentrations after supplementation. Compared with placebo, supplementation with EPA- or DHA-rich fish oils had no significant effect on cord blood cytokine concentrations. Conclusions Prenatal supplementation with EPA-rich fish oil significantly reduced levels of several inflammatory cytokines in maternal plasma, while prenatal DHA-rich fish oil had no significant effect on cytokine concentrations. Supplementation with EPA- and DHA- rich fish oil had no significant effect on umbilical cord blood cytokine concentrations. Trial registration Clinical Trial Registration: registration number NCT00711971 7/7/2008.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144528/1/12884_2018_Article_1899.pd

Diploma Privilege and the Constitution

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdowns are affecting every aspect of society. The legal profession and the justice system have been profoundly disrupted at precisely the time when there is an unprecedented need for legal services to deal with a host of legal issues generated by the pandemic, including disaster relief, health law, insurance, labor law, criminal justice, domestic violence, and civil rights. The need for lawyers to address these issues is great but the prospect of licensing new lawyers is challenging due to the serious health consequences of administering the bar examination during the pandemic. State Supreme Courts are actively considering alternative paths to licensure. One such alternative is the diploma privilege, a path to licensure currently used only in Wisconsin. Wisconsin\u27s privilege, limited to graduates of its two in-state schools, has triggered constitutional challenges never fully resolved by the lower courts. As states consider emergency diploma privileges to address the pandemic, they will face these unresolved constitutional issues. This Article explores those constitutional challenges and concludes that a diploma privilege limited to graduates of in-state schools raises serious Dormant Commerce Clause questions that will require the state to tie the privilege to the particular competencies in-state students develop and avenues they have to demonstrate those competencies to the state\u27s practicing bar over three years. Meeting that standard will be particularly difficult if a state adopts an in-state privilege on an emergency basis. States should consider other options, including privileges that do not prefer in-state schools. The analysis is important both for states considering emergency measures and for those that might restructure their licensing after the pandemic